Chemical and physiological examination of the fruit of Chailletia toxicaria, Don. : [a West African poison] / by Frederick B. Power and Frank Tutin.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
[1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Chemical and physiological examination of the fruit of Chailletia toxicaria, Don. : [a West African poison] / by Frederick B. Power and Frank Tutin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    the absence of an alkaloid, and, as so many non-alkaloidal, poisonous substances are glucosides, it was thought probable that the' active constituent of the aqueous extract was also a substance of this nature. With the hope of obtaining some confirmation of this view, it was sought to ascertain whether it would yield any definite hydrolytic product. The material contained in the Soxhlet apparatus was, therefore, extracted with water, and in this liquid were dissolved the syrups obtained by the previous extraction with absolute alcohol. The whole was first shaken out several times with ether, which, however, removed only a trace of a brownish, syrupy substance. Sufficient hydrochloric acid was then added to make an approximately 5 per cent, solution, and the mixture boiled for three hours in a flask with an inverted condenser. During the boiling a large quantity of a black amorphous resin separated, and the entire mixture was subsequently distilled in steam. The first drops that passed over were slightly turbid, and had a somewhat em- pyreumatic odor, but no aldehyde or ketone could be detected in the distillate. The residue in the distilling flask was allowed to cool, and repeatedly shaken with ether. This did not dissolve the black resin, but removed a small quantity of a brownish syrup, which had an impleasant odor, and, on the addition of water, separated a sticky resin. All the attempts to isolate the toxic principle, or to obtain some definite derivative of it, were, there- fore, unsuccessful. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. The results of the investigation of the fruit of Chailletia toxicaria, Don, as detailed in the preceding pages, may be briefly summarized as follows; A preliminary examination showed the fruit to contain no alkaloid, cyanogenetic glucoside, or soluble proteid, to which its highly poisonous properties could be attributed. The possible presence of a cyanogenetic glucoside was particularly considered, in view of the recorded statement that such a substance has been isolated from the leaves of the South African species, Chailletia cyniosa, Hook.* On extracting 3000 grams of the fruit with light petroleum (boiUng-point 40-60°), 53 grams, or 1.83 per cent, of a yellowish * Compare “Bulletin of the Imperial Institute,” 1903, Vol. I, p. 14.